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Tuesday, 1 July 2014

The adventure begins

.... Well, the adventure began a few days ago actually, but this is a different (or an extra) adventure. It's Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.

Islands of Adventure was more the way I thought Universal Studios would be, clearer sections. Like yesterday, I headed counter-clockwise around the park, and so the first section I got to was Seuss Landing. I haven't read many Dr. Seuss books but I quite enjoy the films. I went on the Cat in the Hat ride, which was good, probably more fun for the younger crowd, but I did enjoy it.

The next section was the Lost Continent where I attended Poseidon's Fury. It was a really good attraction, I walked through Poseidon's temple on a guided tour, with special effects, with a large group. The guide was really funny and the end of the tour was a lot of fun, I don't want to give too much away, you should see it for yourselves!

The next section was the one I had been looking forward to the most, Harry Potter! I'm not a big fan of the films, but I love the books. Well. I like the films if it has been a long, long time since I read the books, that way I can't remember the books so well that I compare them all the time. Which reminds me.. I want to re-read the books, again. And I still haven't seen the last few films... I've got some catching up to do!

Anyway, I digress. The Harry Potter part was really nice. You walk through a winter version of Hogsmeade, where you can buy wands, clothes and other Harry Potter related things. The only thing I bought was a Butterbeer-slushie. I've never had a butterbeer before. I was worried I wouldn't like it, that it would be too sweet and sickly since I pretty much only drink water, but it wasn't. The butterbeer was really tasty, I wish they sold it everywhere so I could buy some whenever I wanted! I was also quite brave (for me) and I went on the Hogwarts ride. I was really nervous before I got on it but I knew I'd be kicking myself if I didn't go on it. It was a fun ride actually. Yes, I got dizzy and nauseous, but mostly I thought it was quite fun.

By the way, the single rider queue is awesome! The wait for the Hogwarts ride was supposed to be around 60 minutes, but because they had a separate queue for single riders I probably only waited 10-15 minutes! A handy tool if you're travelling alone or if you're in a party that doesn't mind being split up for the ride (why would you mind if you're all adults travelling together? It's not like you can talk much during most rides anyway).

As I walked to the next section, Jurassic Park, it started raining, so I walked into the Discovery Centre. Not too bothered about that one to be honest, more for children as far as I could tell. When I walked back out again it was throwing it down and I could hear a thunderstorm in the distance, it wasn't as bad as yesterday but I still waited for a little bit, until the rain eased up, before I emerged from my shelter. I had been wanting to go on the Jurassic Park River Adventure, but they had closed it due to the weather, I waited around for a little bit, but as there was nowhere to sit down I decided to just move on to the next part of the park. I hate standing around without anything to do.

Toon Lagoon was next. I loved it! I have read many of the toons featured there, in Norwegian. I used to buy Beetle Bailey every time a new issue came out. Blondie is one of the comics my mum buys for Christmas every year, and Hägar always had some guest strips or pages in the Beetle Bailey mags. It was a fun little section of the park. They also had Popeyes boat, and if you walk along the little path behind it there are lots of little fun things hiding. Like a school for fish and Plymouth Rock, shaped like a Plymouth amongst other things.

Next I "geeked it up" with the Marvels section. I am so glad someone introduced me to the Avengers and some of the other Marvels films, like Fantastic 4 and the individual films for each superhero. It was a nice section of the park. I went on the Spiderman ride, which was a lot of fun. They also had a single rider section so I didn't have to queue for long. I am sensing a pattern here with only going on the simulator rides... It feels safer, I know it's only a screen and nothing too bad can happen to me if something fails.

Marvels is the last section on the Islands of Adventure, but I didn't end my day there. I had really wanted to go on the Men in Black ride at Universal so I decided to head back there and go on it. Again, they had a single rider queue so I got to the front of the line fast. It was a really fun ride. You shoot at aliens and get spun around a lot, I actually wanted to go on it again, despite feeling nauseated and having a headache, because I wanted to get a better score. Unfortunately I had to catch the bus back to the hotel.

Tomorrow I am getting up early and heading to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I think.

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Removal of any part of this blog, including posts and pictures, without my express consent is considered copyright infringement. This blog was created by and for Vanja Holm @ the Lilly Pad. If you see anything from this blog on any other site please contact the original blog owner/reviewer